For nearly a century, HEMA’s mission has been to ‘make everyday life better in a more beautiful world’. Since the first store opened in Amsterdam in 1926, HEMA has been a household name in the Netherlands and beyond.
The merchandise retailer sells all kinds of everyday items – including 32,000 private-label products – in its around 750 stores in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, France and Austria, as well as in the Middle East and Mexico through franchise partnerships.
Since February 2021, HEMA is co-owned by a consortium of Mississippi Ventures – the investment arm of the Dutch entrepreneurial Van Eerd family (owners of Jumbo Supermarkets) – and private equity firm Parcom. The owners are focused on long-term value creation and making sure HEMA remains futureproof.
“Now, under our new management, the company has decided to rebuild its basics in governance, risk, internal control and audit,” says Berry Kok, Manager, Risk and Internal Audit at HEMA. This rebuild began in the fall of 2021, when HEMA started recruiting outside talent to reconstitute its risk and internal audit team. That’s when Kok joined HEMA, bringing extensive risk management experience…
